It's hard to believe it's only been a week since Easter. My memory apparently relegates anything that far away to history. It is definitely spring now.

Yesterday was Barbara Ruff's memorial service. She was a friend and colleague of Ray's who died in October after her ovarian cancer came back. Her three sons and many grandchildren were obviously devastated at her loss, even though she was 75. I did not think of her as old. She was beautiful and serene, with gray hair and a lovely smile; someone I liked but never got around to inviting for dinner or getting to know her better. The service was at the botanical garden in the spring, because she loved plants and animals, gardening and walking. There was not a minister or any singing, only reminiscences by friends and relatives, and I learned about her life.

Her brother, Moose--a nickname she gave him--said the defining event of their lives, which made them very close, was the sudden death of their father when she was 6 and he was 9. (heart attack?) He was a lawyer in New York. Their mother was not working and had never worked. Relatives decided they should go to a Catholic boarding school in Buffalo (?) while she became employable and employed, which apparently took about 6 years. They were free spirits and the discipline was very strict. He told about putting a frog in the holy water when a bishop was visiting, for instance. The education was excellent, apparently, and stood her in good stead all her life. She went to Bryn Mawr and was somewhat wild, smoking and being the belle of the ball at parties. She won a Charleston contest, for instance. Her marriage was not referred to, but apparently her husband was an alcoholic and she suffered greatly, finally getting divorced. She loved her children and grandchildren deeply and spent a lot of time with them, including summer visits to Blue Mountain Lake in upstate New York. There was a slide show and their life together seemed wonderful. She even had a trip to the Galapagos. They all mentioned her love of animals and gardening, including a favorite pet rabbit (as an adult), and even road kill in the freezer. She was a paleo-archeologist, but worked at the natural history museum on campus and teaching geology. Anyway, it made me cry a lot. I need people like that in my life--how will I find them?

On the way out, we saw a car with plants in it and realized today was the day of the Botanical Garden Plant Sale. So we turned around and bought some plants, a fitting tribute and antidote to the sadness. Dianthus, rudbeckia and several other flowering plants, mostly natives. Many of the plants I have in my yard came from the botanical garden. I don't feel bad spending too much money there because it goes to a good cause, even if I manage to kill the plants.

After lunch, Ray and I spent a couple hours outside. First, we planted the two fruit trees we bought Friday--a granny smith and an Elberta peach tree. The planting didn't take long, because Ray had already dug the holes. But we also had to fence them to keep the deer from eating them. Now we have 2 peach and 3 apple trees, as well as 3 pecans,  6 blueberries and 10 strawberry plants. The blueberries and strawberries look great, like we will actually harvest something this year. I am excited! The fruit trees were always a long shot. Apparently, it is very hard to raise tree fruits without pesticides. If I don't get any fruit from them, I will enjoy watching them grow. The pecans take about 10 years to produce, if then.

Then we wandered out back to look at the things we planted there last year. There is a dogwood that blooms this time of year. Maybe we should put a bench under it some time. It is beautiful. Yesterday was the kind of weather where it is warm in the sun and cool in the shade, so you can always find a place to be comfortable. We found all but one of the plants from last year, although the makeshift fences had mostly fallen down. They need work to protect them from the deer. Columbine, calla lily, redbud, viburnum, 3 hydrangeas. I have to look up the things I bought yesterday and decide where and how to plant them.

Then I did it! I booked our tickets to France. OMG, I can't believe it. We are going to France again, for almost 2 weeks. We will see Nathalie and spend a week on a canal boat. We are flying in and out of Toulouse, a city about which I know almost nothing. But we really like the south of France.

After making and eating a delicious spring supper including some asparagus from the garden and the first of the new  lettuce and radishes, I was pretty worn out from my day and couldn't stay awake long.